"Two long days left."

Tuesday, July 21, 1992

     Today felt about a week long. We didn't really have any trouble, it just took a long time. We got there in plenty of time, even found a handicap space to park in. The appt. was at 10:00. We checked in at 9:36 (had to wait in line). It was over an hour before they called us back. We saw a female first who said she was a sr. med student. She asked lots of questions. It wasn't too long before the dr. came in—Dr. Timberlake. He was very nice—so nice I think he might be civilian. It's hard to tell when they're wearing dr. clothes. He checked her out and had us go "around the corner" for X-rays. We had to wait 30–40 min. for that. I'm glad I took some pnut butter triscuits & applesauce for Ez. to eat. She'd had some juice & teddy grahams before we saw the dr. Gayle went down to McDonald's to get Ez. some milk & us some sodas. I gave her money for them. Ez. didn't drink much milk or eat but one or two crackers, but she ate all her applesauce.

     She did good getting her X-rays done. I had to wear a lead apron. The girl did have to help me hold her legs still some of the time while a guy ran the machine. They took pictures of her pelvis and her legs & several of her feet, from different angles. She started getting fussy on the last one cause she had to lay on her side. They all came out ok so we didn't have to redo any. It didn't take too long to get them back.

     Dr. T. told us to come back down the hall and not stop in the waiting room so he'd see us. It was a couple of minutes before we saw him come out of a room and he saw us. He went to look at her X-rays & came back with the student to see us. He showed us the X-rays of her pelvis and said there was this one bone that had a higher curve on one side than the other but Gayle or I couldn't tell what he was talking about. He said it was nothing to worry about. He asked if they'd left her diaper on when they did the X-ray & I said yes & he seemed displeased. I don't know if that would cause what he was talking about.

     About her feet, he said not to worry about that yet either. He said she would probably start to walk soon and to get her some high-top shoes with soft sides to hold her ankles up. He wants to see her again in 3 months to see if they're better or worse by then. If they're worse she might have to wear braces.

     When I put her down on the floor to stand up, she surprised me by trying to walk over to Gayle. Not the left-foot step like she usually does, but real putting one foot in front of the other walking! She did it at home tonight too. Must be something about dr. visits that makes her want to try something new. 

     Anyway, by the time we finished there it was after 1:00. I have to call a month ahead to get an appt. (Oh, Ez. fell asleep on Gayle's shoulder while Dr. T. was talking at the end) Gayle said she'd just go to the ped. with us cause by the time we got home & changed the car seat over & everything we might be late. I thanked her profusely & apologized for taking up her whole day & missing lunch. Ez. slept til Gayle got her out of the car at the dr's. office.

     I had to fill out a new info sheet cause they got a new computer system & wanted to update everything. When we saw Dr. Karp she seemed like she was in a rush more than usual. Ez. did ok—at least she didn't have to clean out her ears. She looked at Dr. T's report & the X-rays (I was surprised he gave those to me) I asked if what he said made sense to her & she said yes but didn't elaborate. She took my notebook & started going over my questions while I was getting Ez. dressed so I couldn't make my own notes. When I got home & looked at it she'd skipped some stuff too. I guess I was just too tired to think by then.

     Gayle said she'd hold Ez. while she got her shots. She got them in the arm this time and hardly cried at all. I was shocked. She got measles, mumps & rubella in one arm and meningitis in the other. The dr. & nurse said she might develop a red, bumpy rash in five days & a fever and it would last 5 days. The nurse said to call if she did.

     It was around 3:00 when we got home. I thanked Gayle again. Before we left the ped. I asked if I could treat her to lunch & she said no. When she was leaving here I asked if I could give her some gas money & she said no, that just saying thank you was enough. So I said it again & gave her a hug. I told her I don't know what I'd have done without her. She said she was glad to help.

     Ez. went to sleep at about 3:30. I gave her some Tylenol first (& at bedtime too). Her weight was 23 lbs 9 oz & height 32". So the dosage goes up for Tylenol & other stuff now. I slept for about an hour. She was still asleep at 5:30 & I decided to wake her up. It wasn't easy. Her hair was all sweaty. I think I need to change the angle of the fan during the day but I always forget to do it before putting her down.

     We went & got the mail then ate supper. She got grumpy while I was doing dishes & I later discovered it was a poopy diaper. Oh yeah, she woke up at 6:06 this morning with a poopy diaper. That's 3 days in a row for the diapers—a whole week + 1 day for getting up early. Dr. Karp said to keep her up later. I said that doesn't make a difference. She said she probably doesn't need more than 8 hrs sleep. I didn't want to hear that. She said if she wakes up grumpy & stays grumpy she didn't get enough rest. It just didn't seem like she was much help this time.

     I'm so tired but Ez. will probably wake up as soon as I go to sleep. She did last night but I think her legs were chilly. I'd put her in her night shirt so I went ahead & put some pj bottoms on her when she woke up (& at bedtime tonight too.) Maybe today wore her out enough that she'll sleep late in the morning. I sure hope so.

     Two long days left.

July 1992

"Another long day."

Monday, July 20, 1992

     Another long day. 6:08—no a.m. nap—cried 38 min. at bedtime. She did have a good nap this aft. 2 hrs & 42 min. I slept about an hour—would've slept longer but thunder woke me up. It thundered quite a bit but never rained. Even when I get a good nap it doesn't last very long—I always get tired again.

     As if I didn't have enough problems, I started getting itchy last night so I went ahead & used some Monistat cream. I'm glad I did cause it's been worse today. I know it's not from antibiotics. The only thing I can think of is maybe it's because I didn't wash my hands between changing Ez's diaper & using the bathroom myself. I can remember doing that a couple of times but not when. Guess I need to be more careful.

     I called the ship info tape today & it's finally working. It said the Opportune came in at 7:00 this morning and left at 8:30. Strange.

     Three days left.

"Silly me!"

Sunday, July 19, 1992

     I can't believe how early Ez. woke up this morning—5:58. I only went & told her to go back to sleep & gave her her pacifiers & burp rag. She was quiet for about 30 minutes. I don't know if she went back to sleep or not but I did & it sure didn't feel like 30 minutes went by. This time I checked her diaper & it was messy.

     I knew she wouldn't go back to sleep but I tried it anyway. I'd set my alarm for 6:30, hoping I could take a shower before she woke up. Silly me! She was quiet for a little while so I reset my alarm for 6:45. I think it was about 6:32 when we finally got up. I went ahead & took a shower before we went down to eat. I don't know how but we got to church on time.

    She did a little better in church than last week. I did have to take her out once when she slipped & bumped the side of her head on the back of the pew. It wasn't really that bad. I put her in the nursery tonight. Joe & Angela Garcia were in there. She did fine. There was a fellowship after tonight's service. I didn't take anything. I fed Ez. before we went. I didn't take her walker. I sat her in a regular chair by me at one of the tables. She had a cookie—ch. chip.

     When we got home, when I opened the door, Chief was whining. I couldn't imagine what was wrong until I realized he was upstairs. I got onto him good and made him stay in his room awhile. Now that I think about it, he probably got scared if it stormed here. It was lightening in the distance on the way to church & was really dark out through church (though it didn't storm there then) and on the way home it looked like it had just rained all around here. I couldn't find anything he'd gotten into or chewed up.

     Oh, Ez. fell asleep on the way home this morning but woke up when I was taking her shoes off in the crib. So we went ahead & ate lunch. Then she slept a little over 2 hours. I watched TV for about an hour then tried to sleep. I might have actually slept for 30 minutes. I don't know how much longer she or I can go with as little sleep as we're getting.

     I was thinking about Ez's appt. at PNH Tues. & trying to figure out how I was going to manage w/o Guy. I decided to ask Gayle Harrison if she'd take us over there and she said she could & would. I'm so glad.

     Sue never did call back. She probably forgot. I was really wanting to talk to her.

     Four days to go.

"Next time should be easier."

Sat. July 18, 1992

     I can't believe Ez. is still waking up so early in the morning—6:08 today. I checked her diaper & tried to get her to go back to sleep but she started crying again. And still very short naps. I'm surprised she's not waking up overnight—knock on wood. We went to the other Wal-Mart today to look for that book. They had it on the list but there weren't any. I got some other stuff we'd forgotten or they didn't have at the other store last week. Plus I got Ez. a new book—Ten Little Bunnies—a board book.

     We stopped at Farm Fresh on the way home cause that's the only place I'd seen the book. I got one for Guy & one for Daniel's BD. (It's Tues. but since Guy won't be here I asked Daniel if we could celebrate it after he got back but he's leaving the day after Guy gets back for two weeks to visit his family in KY. I'm going to give him his present & card tomorrow at church.)

     Sue called while we were gone & said she'd call back later but she hasn't yet. When I first saw the light blinking I thought maybe it was Guy calling to say they were back.

     I washed her hair in the kitchen tonight. She wasn't sure what was going on but she did pretty good. Next time should be easier.

     Five days to go.

"I wonder if that would work every time"

Friday, July 17, 1992

     Guy had to work til 7:00 again last night. I was going to go to the spouses' meeting with Ez. but since he was here he said to wait til he got home & he'd keep her. I called Connie to tell her I'd be late. She said Guy had told her that already. She was at the BBQ on ship when he came up for lunch. We didn't go to the BBQ because he wasn't going to be able to spend time with us since they were still 'up' in radio.

     He got home about 7:25 & I left just a couple of minutes later. It wasn't hard to find but I wasn't sure where to park. They live in Navy housing—I just parked on the side of the road on the grass, where there weren't any marked spaces. There were only 5 there; me, Connie, Rhonda & two others & one of their husbands. I don't know if it was worth it or not. They're going to start charging dues of $1 per meeting. They're also starting a food bank. The next meeting will be at a picnic while the ship is gone.

     We had to get up early to take Guy in. They're not going out just for the weekend. They'll be gone til Thu. unless they break down again. Guy said something the other night about I must've prayed hard enough for them to come back in that day. I wonder if that would work every time?

     Ez. took short naps again today: just under an hour this morning & only 35 min. this aft. Since we had an early breakfast, we had an early lunch. Then we went out—first to Wal Mart to look for Tom Clancy's new book. I saw it in paperback at Farm Fresh the other day but figure it'll be cheaper at WM. But I couldn't find it there. I want to surprise Guy with it when he gets home & also get a copy to give Daniel (our single) for his BD Tues.

     I'm debating whether to go to the other WM tomorrow or go ahead & get them at Farm Fresh.

     Anyway, we went to the commissary after that for milk & a few other things. It wasn't too bad.

     I put Ez. to bed about 8:15 & she cried for a little bit. She gave me a hard time brushing her teeth, as usual. I tried to check for new teeth & she really put up a fight then. I couldn't feel anything new but that last molar is coming in very slowly.

     I called the dr's office to see if I could change Ez's appt. from Tues. to another day later in the week. They didn't have anything available on days when Dr. Karp is there but she is there on Tues. Her appt. is at 2:00 & I kept it there. The problem is, she has an appt. at the orthopedics clinic at PNH that morning at 10:00. I just hope they see her in time and that it doesn't take too long. It won't be easy though cause I'm sure she'll be tired and she has to get shots this time too. If she's used to Guy being gone by then it might be a little easier. I doubt it though. She's been to the dr. so much lately I think she remembers it from one time to the next now. Guy's never gone to an appt. when she had to get shots.

"She was late getting to bed again."

Wednesday, July 15, 1992

     Ez. woke up early again–5:33. Believe it or not I was already awake. (I woke up at 4:59 when I heard Chief jingling his tags.) I went & checked her diaper & she was ok so I told her to go back to sleep. She cried for a little while & I think went back to sleep but started crying again at 6:12. I waited a few minutes to see if she'd go back to sleep but she didn't. She wasn't poopy then either. She took a 55 minute nap at 8:45 & I slept about 30 min. This aft. she slept 25 minutes & I didn't any cause I was watching my story. Thank goodness she was ready for a nap again later & slept 1 1/2 hrs. I slept maybe an hour but it was more like dozing.

     Guy called around 12:40 & said they came in this morning. He didn't know yet if he'd be able to come home. Rhonda, the ombudsman, called about an hour later to ask me to call the people on my phone tree. There was a dependent's cruise scheduled for tomorrow but they changed that to having a BBQ on the ship at pier side, followed by an awards ceremony and open house. The ship is going to try leaving again Friday & I thought she said "for the weekend". But Guy didn't know anything about that. He called at 5:00 & said to pick him up at 7:00.

     Ez. acted shy when Guy got in the car but about halfway home she started getting fussy, wanting to get to him. She just sat on his lap when we got home while he was reading the mail. He gave her a bath & played with her & Chief some before putting her to bed. She was late getting to bed again. I wish that meant she'd sleep late. He had to walk her to sleep.

"I didn't cry as much today..."

Tues. July 14, 1992

     Ez. woke up at 6:08 this morning & wouldn't go back to sleep! She wasn't poopy either. She slept about 1 1/2 hrs. this morning & barely 1/2 hr this aft. Whenever I go to get her out of bed she's looking around the corner for Guy. And when I let her down after changing her diaper she goes in our room looking for him. A couple of times during the day when I happened to say 'daddy' she got excited & looked or crawled toward the front door looking for him. This aft. I got a tape out to watch of Christmas. She liked it til Guy came on the screen, then she got down from my lap & went over to the TV & cried & fussed so much I finally turned it off.

     I didn't cry as much today but still cried off & on all day.

     We went to the Cuthrell's for a BD BBQ for Mark Pugh tonight. I fed her before we went. It was supposed to be at 6:00. Deborah said she said 6:00 so people would be there & ready to eat by 7:00. It was 7:40 before we got to eat so I had to eat & run. Ez. had fun. She was crawling around, playing & giggling with people. But she was getting fussy on the way home. I finally put her in bed at 8:40 and she cried for 15–20 minutes. I was doing my medicine then taking care of Chief so I didn't have to hear her. She was asleep by the time I got back upstairs. I sure hope she sleeps good tonight & doesn't wake up early. She only woke up once overnight but went back to sleep after crying a little. (I did go in & check her diaper)

     We had to go to Farm Fresh for milk this morning. I also got some Dimetapp even though she doesn't have a runny nose any more. I also got her a little board book—Ten Little Puppy Dogs. I saw that Tom Clancy's latest book was out in paperback but I decided to wait & get it at Wal-Mart. Guy will be glad to have it to take on his trip to Panama. Two days down and 8 to go.